At the 14th annual Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol, hundreds of advocates and youth gathered in the Rotunda to celebrate wins for Kentucky kids in the 2017 legislative session and to rally in support of priorities on the 2018 Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children agenda. Kids win when leaders step up for them and the General Assembly took action in 2017 on a number of Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children legislative priorities. Because of those [...]

Contact: Mara Powell 502-895-8167 *122 mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates Kentucky students deserve to learn and grow in a safe environment with effective educators committed to each student’s success. Today, the Senate Education Committee passed Senate Bill 69, which would ensure Kentucky students have educators who work effectively and safely with children by implementing a balanced process for reviewing cases when an educator is dismissed. The tribunal process, [...]

During the fall of 2017, much of the talk and focus in Frankfort was around the budget and pensions. Questions abounded among those watching for signs of what this budget would hold. What would pension reform look like? Would tax reform be taken up at the same time? If not, what cuts would state agencies face? The wait ended in mid-January with the release of the Governor’s proposed Executive Branch Budget for the Commonwealth of [...]

Hundreds of Kentuckians from across the Commonwealth, including over 150 children and youth, convened in Frankfort today for the 14th annual Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol. They urged elected leaders to support the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children, a unified agenda for child advocates across the state. “Today, youth, faith leaders, teachers, social works, pediatricians, elected leaders, and many others unite to ask our leaders to make Kentucky children a priority during the 2018 legislative session and [...]

The real takeaway from tonight’s address from Governor Matt Bevin is a question: What kind of commonwealth do we want to be? Is it one in which needed protections for kids are absent and a rising tide of poverty is pervasive? A place where families struggle to stay together and early investments for kids fall to the wayside? Or will we as a commonwealth move towards an environment in which current challenges do not cloud a brighter [...]

Contact: Mara Powell 502-895-8167 *122 mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates The real takeaway from tonight’s address from Governor Matt Bevin is a question: What kind of commonwealth do we want to be? Is it one in which needed protections for kids are absent and a rising tide of poverty is pervasive? A place where families struggle to stay together and early investments for kids fall to the wayside? Or will [...]

This post originally appeared as an op-ed in the Courier Journal on December 22, 2017. In Tom Loftus’ recent piece, “… Matt Bevin Reaches His Defining Moment as Governor,” we saw a Christmas miracle. Governor Bevin and Representative Jim Wayne, certainly no political doppelgangers, agreed about the imperative of revenue enhancements. The governor wisely — and bravely — proclaimed, “You can’t cut your way into everything. You can’t.” It’s not as if Kentucky has not tried the [...]

COMING SOON: THE 2018 KENTUCKY GENERAL ASSEMBLY In less than a month, on January 2nd, the 2018 Kentucky General Assembly will begin. In just over a month, more than 1,000 advocates—teachers, social workers, youth, judges, and more—will pack the Capitol rotunda in Frankfort and ask our leaders to prioritize kids in their decisions. Join those advocates at the 14th annual Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol on Thursday, January 18th! Learn more and register to [...]

The Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children stands on three cornerstones: Thriving communities launch strong families. Strong families launch successful kids. Successful kids launch a prosperous future for Kentucky. We’re launching the 2018 Blueprint policy priorities with partners from across the state with those three cornerstones in mind. We invite you to learn more about the Blueprint priorities and how to get involved. Check out the 2018 Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children policy priorities. Read the fact sheets for [...]

Early this month, the Kentucky Department of Education announced a request for feedback on the recently developed and revised Health and Physical Education Standards. These standards as drafted, follow the requirements set forth in Senate Bill 1 (2017) and involved educators and other stakeholders from across the Commonwealth. The Department is making one final outreach to Kentuckians as a whole for additional feedback through December 6th. All Kentuckians are able to provide their feedback on [...]